Siddhraj Thaker
What’s your plan after completing your education? What job do you want to get into? Why have you taken up this job? I bet most of you must have come across these questions or might still be hearing them. Making the right career decision is the most difficult task and these rapid-fire questions from relatives, friends, and teachers make this ‘career decision task’ even more stressful. We are here to lessen that stress and provide you with 3 critical considerations that can help you make the right career decision. Without further ado, let’s look into each one of them.
3 Key considerations to make the right career decision
Following are the 3 key considerations that everyone should have before making their career decisions.
1. Know your personality type
Personality plays a critical role in terms of how you view others, collect information, tackle problems, and organize your life. In other words, it determines your life experience, shapes your performance, and consequently, determines your notion towards success or failure. First and foremost, you need to understand your strengths and weaknesses.
Thus, awareness of the unique combination of your personality and characteristics will help you gain a better understanding of how you behave, think, react, and respond to any life situation.
This knowledge will help you choose the ideal subject or even make the right career decision that suits you the best, both skill-wise and work satisfaction-wise, ultimately helping you to attain your dream job and your career happiness. For instance, if you operate on emotions (Feeler personality), service-oriented jobs might suit you the best. If you operate on logic and facts – jobs that require you to use analytical/logical thinking will suit you the best and so on… And if you are unsure about your personality style, there are many psychometric assessments out there that can help you discover your personality type, like: F.I.T.S, 16PF, Extroversion-Introversion Personality Assessment, 4C’s Factor of Behavior Test, People Performance Competency Test, etc. Good news! Many of these tests are available online and free too! Go on, try them out.
So the key is – “Know your personality type and choose a job area that aligns with your personality.”
2. Align your skills with your job interest
Once you have identified your personality type and the job area that aligns with your personality – the next important step is to evaluate and see if you have the skills needed for that particular job area. If yes, then great! You have found your dream job – all you need to do is work towards getting that job.
If not, then the primary step would be to develop the skills needed for that job. You could do so by attending webinars, classes, or even taking certification courses relevant to that job area. For instance: Imagine you are an extrovert and a feeler personality type. And you want to work as a counselor. Though you have completed your graduation in Psychology, still you need to take up an additional course in counseling to be able to work as a certified counselor.
Likewise, imagine you have just finished your engineering course and want to work as a software engineer. However, the organization you intend to join is using some sort of advanced software program that you are not aware of. So, learning that program even before applying for that job will give you an edge over other candidates who have no idea about the program.
So, the second key is – “Do your research and learn the skills needed to attain your dream job or position.”
3. Make the necessary changes before it’s too late
Most importantly, if you realize the career choice you have made is not making you happy at any point in time and is making you uncomfortable and difficult to cope with – then it’s time you make the necessary changes before it’s too late. Because instances like these lead to a ‘mid-life career crisis’ in the future. Taking the necessary steps right in the beginning will help you avoid making unaffordable career mistakes.
Ultimately, it all depends on you
Making the right career decision is a difficult job but it need not be. Though discovering your personality will help you in your career-hunting journey – in the end, everything is in your hands. You need to advance your skills and work towards attaining your dream job. Remember, it won’t happen overnight – consistency is the key. Making the right career decision, in the beginning, will pay you in the long run!
If you feel stuck at any point in time, don’t hesitate to take the help of counselors and career experts. They can help you take the right steps towards your dream career. However, all that matters is your will and desire to attain your dream job!
